


The Lonely Blacksmith

by KotOR_Luvr



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Mild Smut, mild violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-08
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-06-07 06:30:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6790507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KotOR_Luvr/pseuds/KotOR_Luvr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She needed a safe place to stay before the evening came and she didn't think twice before diving into a single Blacksmith Shop. The next morning, she finds she isn't alone. Join Daisy as she explores the world she has come to call home, and as a friendship grows into something more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Making Friends

**Author's Note:**

> So, I was playing some Minecraft before having to go to work one evening, and I was running around looking for a Village and I found one. One single, solitary Village. With one single, solitary Blacksmith Shop (I call them shops). With one single, solitary Blacksmith. All sorts of cute little ideas popped into my brain, thus, The Lonely Blacksmith was created! This story is also posted on fanfiction.net, and my username is the exact same (only there's a hyphen between the names, not an underscore) so you can also read it there. Anyways, hope y'all enjoy!

She had to stop now! It was either live in a cave like a hermit, or find civilization and the latter seemed to be the least likely scenario in her case. She had been wandering for hours, looking for one sign of life other than the pigs, cows, sheep and other various animals that lived on the surface. It was also nearly sunset and the Mobs would be coming from their little hiding places soon enough, something that she was not willing to witness after nearly being skewered by that Skeleton the previous evening.

Wiping the sweat from her forehead Daisy looked down onto her map, marking down yet another lifeless biome. She sighed, nearly ready to give up. _If this continues any further, I may as well just let the Mobs have me!_

Daisy hadn't been paying too much attention and she failed to realize that she had been heading straight over a sandy dune. She suddenly felt herself falling and tumbling down the mountain of sand as she did her best to keep her mouth closed as to not get sand in it. Almost as quickly as she fell, she landed face-first into the leveled sand, stopping her plummet. Daisy lay there for a few brief moments, groaning at her unfortunate situation. _Nearly dark, no civilization in sight, my face full of sand; what else could possibly go wrong?_ Picking herself up and dusting herself off, Daisy just barely noticed a faint glow just behind another pile of sand. With a mixture of hope, fear, and excitement, she dashed towards the light, praying most desperately that it wasn't just another lava pit like the one she nearly tumbled into earlier that day.

She stopped at the head of the hill, throwing her map down and jumping into the air with a holler. "Ha ha! Finally!"

Picking up her map, Daisy marked her first civilized area: a single Blacksmith Shop.

Without any more hesitation, Daisy slid down the dune and towards the Blacksmith Shop. She entered the building with haste and closed the door behind her. Without much regard for who might be home, she placed down a Crafting Table and, using the three wool pieces she found on the way there, created a bed for her to sleep in.

Placing down the bed, she curled right underneath the warm sheets. As if she were under a spell, her eyes closed, her breathing slowed, her heart fell into a steady beat.

She slept.

/ / /

The Rooster climbed to the top of the building, scratching at the rough surface of it before crowing at the rising sun, flapping his wings in excitement.

The Rooster, having been invigorated in his morning routine, lost his sense of balance and slipped off of the edge of the roof. He landed on the sand with a loud cluck, scaring the resident of the home awake.

Daisy bolted up in her bed, gasping at the sudden noise. "I'm awake!" She declared to nobody. She rubbed at her sleep-filled eyes, yawning and stretching out her body. "I'm awake..." She repeated.

Daisy looked around the building, her memory of the previous evening slowly coming back to her. She sighed heavily, more out of relief than anything else. She was alive and she was more than grateful for that fact.

Pushing the sheets off of her, she went outside and looked around the Blacksmith's Shop. Because she was in such a rush the previous evening, she wasn't able to get a good look at the little settlement.

The entire building was made out of solid sandstone. Not the best material when it came to defence, but upon gently knocking on the sandstone, she realized it was heavily packed and was sturdy. There was a small porch in front of the building, where there was an anvil and a block of stone beside it, where an iron sword lay on top of it. Behind the makeshift table, a small pool of lava behind iron bars and two furnaces, one of which had a fire going.

She stepped off of the porch and found that there was one small garden at the front of the building, growing two rows of potatoes and two rows of carrots. She kneeled down and pinched some dirt between her dainty fingers. _I'll have to take care of the crops in this heat._ She thought.

Standing up and wiping her hands off on her jeans, she looked to the west and saw a beautiful beachside. Water stretched out for what looked like miles beyond the sand, glimmering in the light of the sunrise.

Walking over and kneeling down at the waters edge, she cupped her hands into the water and splashed it into her face, cleaning it of dirt and sweat from the previous day.

She paused as she heard something else hitting the water beside her. Standing up, she pulled out her bow and readied an arrow, anticipating a Mob attack.

Rather than being met with red, even black eyes, Daisy was met with a gorgeous pair of blue eyes, almost as blue as the ocean.

Those blue eyes belonged to a man, while also stared at her, an iron bucket filled with water in his hand. He didn't even move, despite having an arrow pointed at his head.

He wore brown trousers and a brown shirt, a black apron wrapped around his front. From what she could tell he was fairly thin, but well built. He had dark, well tanned skin, probably from working under the desert sun most of his days. He appeared to be gaining some dark stubble around his jaw.

All evidence pointed to him being a Villager, a Blacksmith to be exact, save for one small detail that he seemed to be missing.

Most Villagers eyes were an emerald green, the colour of the precious gems they usually traded for. This man's eyes were the deepest shade of blue she could imagine. It didn't register to Daisy at first, that his eyes were blue, but now it was a fairly prominent feature on him.

_Oh goodness, he's gorgeous!_

Shaking her head and snapping herself out of her trance, she lowered her bow and cleared her throat. "Sorry... I wasn't aware anyone else was here." She muttered shyly.

The Blacksmith blinked, not uttering a single word. He appeared to be in a trance of his own, not looking away from her. Daisy cleared her throat again, this time to see if he was even paying attention.

He blinked again, then walked away, leaving her stunned and confused. It came to no surprise to her that he was silent, as most Villagers were unless making a trade with someone, but for whatever reason it made her feel somewhat uneasy.

Shaking her head again, Daisy went back to the building and watched as the Blacksmith placed the bucket beside the anvil. He then took the sword and put it inside the furnace, waiting before pulling it out. The sword glowed bright a fiery red, reflecting in his ocean eyes.

Almost delicately, he put the sword on the anvil and proceeded to shape it with a hammer, the metallic clanging echoing throughout the empty desert air.

Daisy cleared her throat and spoke. "I'm sorry for intruding, but I was trying to find somewhere safe before the evening came around..."

He proceeded to shape the sword, seeming as if she wasn't even there. Nonetheless, she continued. "I'll, uh, leave if you need me to."

He stopped mid-swing and looked directly at her. She barely noticed him shake his head before he continued working on the sword.

"So, you don't mind if I stay a short while?"

The hammer landed on the sword. He shook his head again, then raised the hammer and brought it back down.

She was at a loss for words. Daisy found it rather odd that a stranger would permit another stranger to stay at their home. In most villages, they had an extra house or two in case guests wished to stay, but there was no extra house here. However, she wasn't about to turn down being able to stay in a building that would keep her safe from Mobs during the evening.

"Ah, thank you. Truly, it means a lot."

The Blacksmith blew gently on the sword, examining it before plunging it into the bucket of water beside him. Looking up at Daisy, he nodded.

Daisy smiled to herself. _I think I made a friend._

Shuffling her feet in the sand, she quietly said, "I'm going to go out exploring for a bit." She pulled out her map and trekked up the dune that she had slid down the previous evening. "I'll be back." She informed him.

The Blacksmith smiled to himself, leaning on the anvil. He breathed in sharply and retracted his hand from the anvil, immediately plunging it into the bucket of water.

He had forgotten that the anvil would be hot...


	2. The Naming of Names

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Daisy goes missing and the Blacksmith speaks up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short and sweet for a reason. Wish for more authors notes, check out this story on FFN under the same name.

She silently slid down the vines and dropped onto the stone ground, silver eyes looking around for any signs of Mobs. It was a wide open pit with plenty of sunlight, but the sunlight wasn't enough to reach into the branches of caverns that surrounded the pit.

Still keeping her guard up, Daisy pulled out her pickaxe and proceeded to mine at the Iron Ore that she had seen. Although she had plenty of resources for items such as torches, leather armour, even a sword or two, Daisy wasn't willing to travel into any caves just yet. She felt it was still too dangerous so she decided to search for valuable resources on the surface.

She was barely having any luck, save for this small find. There was a ravine not too far from where the Blacksmith Shop was, however, at the sight of the first Creeper she wasn't too keen on exploring it.

The pick struck the Ore and was imbedded into it. Daisy sighed and grabbed the handle of the pick with both of her hands, muttering obscenities under her breath. After a few measly tugs, she placed her foot onto the rock in front of her and, gathering all her strength, gave a mighty tug.

The handle broke right off.

She growled and tossed the handle aside, the sound of wood on stone echoing through the caves. _There goes that. Now I have to make a new one._ She thought.

A growl echoed in the stone pit, making her freeze in her place. Forgetting the pick, Daisy drew her sword and crawled out of the small hole she had made.

Another growl sounded, making her flinch. With all of the echoing it was next to impossible to tell where the source of the sound was and it was making her paranoid.

Bones clattered not too far from where she was and she turned towards the sound.

There were vines not too far from where she was standing. She could easily make a run for it. But then she would lose the rest of the Iron resource and she had a low chance of finding it again. Better alive and with a shortage of Iron than having a Zombie chewing her arm off.

Just as she was about to turn and run she heard what sounded like TNT being ignited. Daisy froze for a fraction of a second, wondering whether to run the opposite direction or turn and strike.

The Creeper exploded and sent Daisy flying into the stone wall. A sickening crack was heard before she blacked out completely.

/ / /

He kneeled down beside the ocean and took his bandana off, letting his dark brown locks fall in front of his eyes. It was nearly sundown, the girl should've been back by now.

He didn't know for sure, but something in his gut told him that there was something wrong. He'd seen his fair share of travellers and most came back to a Village or shelter before the sun went down and if they didn't, they usually had another bed made or took theirs with them. That's how it usually went.

And usually, if that was the case, they were more adequately prepared for the environment. The girl left with nothing but a leather vest, a stone sword and pickaxe and a few pieces of steak.

Dipping his bandana in the water and taking it back out, he wiped the sweat from his forehead. She could've hunted while she was away and she could've gathered supplies as she travelled. However, she did say she was only exploring, which he doubted meant cave-diving or ravine-climbing. She didn't have the adequate supplies for that.

"Hmm."

Go look for her and risk the possibility of her coming back, or stay and risk the possibility of letting an innocent girl die.

Standing up, he put his bandana in his apron pocket and jogged back into the Shop. Rummaging through his chest he pulled out his Iron sword, two pieces of steak and bandages. No telling what sort of trouble the girl got into and no telling if she hurt herself, either.

Sword drawn and ready, he walked out of the shop and walked up the hill. The girl had been walking in the direction of the Dark Oak Forest; good a place as any to start looking for her.

He felt something tugging at his pant leg and upon looking down he saw the rooster nipping on his pants. Kneeling, he patted the rooster on its head reassuringly. Satisfied, it scurried off and climbed to the top of the Shop and proceeded to stretch its wings out.

Just as he was about to turn around, something crashed into him and sent him tumbling back down the hill. He, and whomever (or whatever) had run into him, landed at the bottom of the sandy hill with a grunt. Sighing heavily, he looked up and was met with a pair of silver eyes.

It was her.

At first they only stared at each other, stunned at both what had happened as well as the proximity of one another. Between their heavy breathing from the tumble and the fact that she was on top of him, their position was a little more than compromising.

She was the first to break that awkward silence. "Listen, no time to explain, but we should get into the shop as quickly as we can!" And with that, she pushed herself off of him and offered him her hand. He took it and she pulled him up. "Like, **now**!"

She dashed for the Shop and he followed close behind her, silently wondering why she was in such a rush. Before he even got through the door, she grabbed at his apron and pulled him in, slamming the door behind him.

Daisy looked through the small window in the door, "There were a bunch of Creepers following me." She clarified.

Satisfied that they were safe, Daisy turned and collapsed onto the bed, exhausted from the days excursions. "I hate my guts..." She groaned.

She felt her arm being grabbed and she looked up to see the Blacksmith inspecting it. He gently prodded at the cut. "Skeleton arrow got me. It's fine."

"Hmm..." He gently set her arm back down and pulled the bandages out of his apron pocket. He picked her arm back up and proceeded to wrap it up.

Daisy watched as he patched up her wound. Once again, a complete stranger was helping her. First, he lets her stay in his home and now he's healing a wound. Most villagers weren't this... Kind, she supposed the word was.

She needed to break the awkward silence that had just filled the Shop. "My name is Daisy." She said. When he didn't reply, she then asked, "What's your name?"

He stopped for a brief moment in his wrapping. He swallowed audibly, looking into her eyes. It had been a while since he had last spoken to anyone. Aside from his Rooster, he hadn't been in contact with anyone else. However, it didn't mean he had forgotten how to speak.

He cleared his throat. "Phillip."

Daisy smiled. "Pleased to meet you, Phillip."

Phillip swallowed again, then finished wrapping the bandage around her arm. He ripped the end and tucked it in. Daisy flexed her fingers and moved her arm. "Thanks."

"Mm."

Daisy suppressed a sigh. _Baby steps. Remember baby steps._ She chanted in her head.

Then, as if she were under a spell, her eyes closed, her breathing slowed, her heart fell into a steady beat.

She slept.


	3. A Pet or Food?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which domestic chores are done and the Rooster is identified.

The Rooster walked to the edge of the rooftop, scratching and pecking at the sandy, stony surface. Flapping his wings he crowed at the rising sun, this time remembering to keep his balance. At the end of his note he stopped and watched the sun for a brief moment then hopped off of the roof, flapping his wings to help him float down.

Landing on the stairs he turned and walked to the door leading into the Shop. Clucking, he tapped his beak on the wooden door, waking the resident inside.

Daisy groaned loudly and turned over onto her side. _Whatever is tapping that door, I'm gonna murder it!_ She thought.

Pulling herself out of bed she stormed over to the door and pulled it open. She looked around and found nobody there, which only sharpened her irritation.

A clucking sound turned her attention downwards to the Rooster. It looked up at her with innocent eyes, as if saying " _I didn't do that._ ". Daisy narrowed her eyes menacingly at the farm fowl.

He stared up at her for another brief moment before scurrying off towards the shore line. Daisy muttered obscenities under her breath as she closed the door again.

_Stupid chicken._

She sat back down on the bed, rubbing the tiredness out of her eyes. "Geez, what a night..." She mumbled. Sighing, she pulled out a compass from her pocket and flipped it open, revealing a mirror on the inner, top lid.

She was glad that she kept her hair short because she would be having a hay-day with how messy it already was!

She brushed her fingers through her blonde hair, tousling it and combing it to rid it of the few cowlicks and loose ends. Satisfied, she closed the compass and put it back in her pocket.

"What to do..." She pondered.

She jumped as she heard a clanging outside of the Shop. "Up early again..." She mumbled. Standing up she stretched out her stiff limbs and walked outside the shop to see Phillip working on an Iron pickaxe.

She sighed slightly and winced at the brightness from outside. "Good morning." She said.

"Mhmm."

She inwardly groaned knowing she wouldn't get anything else out of him. She looked off towards the garden. "Would you mind if I were to do some chores around here? Y'know, just to clean this place up a small bit?"

He stopped hammering the heated pickaxe, looking up at her. She purposefully worded her sentence the way that she did; he needed to come out of his little shell and the only way to do that was to actually talk to him.

Phillip swallowed and took a short, but deep, breath. "Not at all."

Daisy smiled. "Great!" She went back inside the Shop where he heard the chest inside opening.

He resumed his work on the pickaxe he had made. He knew what she was trying to do and he understood why. She needed a friend, someone just to spend time with. And as much as he hated to admit it, so did he.

It had just been years since he's had any form of contact with another person. If it wasn't for his father, he wouldn't really know anything about properly socializing with someone after so long.

He also just wasn't very used to talking to anyone in general. He didn't exactly have the greatest social life, even when he lived in a Village with other Villagers, so he often kept to himself. He wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

"Mind if I use these?"

He stopped again and saw that Daisy had grabbed a stone Hoe, a stone Shovel, and an Iron bucket from the chest. He shook his head and resumed his work.

"Thanks!"

She skipped down the stairs and started jogging towards the plains. She was probably going to gather some dirt and seeds.

This left him to think, which used to be but a mindless thing before he met her. Small daydreams here and there, nothing ever too serious. But, for whatever reason, she made him actually think about things.

For one thing, why did she even try to befriend him in the first place? He was a stranger as well as a Villager. Most people didn't even give Villagers a second glance unless making a trade and they most certainly never tried making friends out of one. And yet, here she was, trying to become friends with him.

So far, they've already gotten onto a name basis, something that was already far too out of line for a Villager and a Traveller. Well, he couldn't simply be rude, either, and ignore her. Another thing his father taught him; " _Always respect others, even if they don't respect you. Address them formally, properly, and answer what they ask even if they don't voice the question._ "

He lifted the pickaxe and inspected it, checking for any impurities or imperfections. Seeing there was none, he dipped it into the bucket of water and pulled it back out. He grabbed the stone on the table beside him and proceeded to sharpen the Iron pickaxe.

What's more is that the woman seemed to trust him quite a fair bit, even though they've known each other for not even a full day. At first, he thought she was just naive. Her name didn't help her, either; Daisy was probably one of the most cutest possible names one could have!

Well, once he thought about it, in a sense she was naive but she wasn't a complete idiot. She was smart, brave, kind and curious.

Phillip was snapped out of his thoughts as he heard the handle of a bucket slam against itself.

And dare he say it, she could be doggone obvious.

Daisy cracked her knuckles and grabbed at the heads of the carrots, pulling them out and dusting them off. "When did you plant these?"

He stopped his sharpening and looked up at her, shrugging slightly. "Three weeks ago." He said.

"Well no wonder they've gone bad..." She muttered. She tossed the carrots away. "I'm going to have to redo this whole garden at this rate."

The whole of the morning was filled with gardening, tool making, and attempts at small talk. He knew how to quickly end an unnecessary conversation, if need be. She caught on, he knew, but she was kind enough to leave him alone.

They both were now kneeling at the edge of the beach, Daisy cupping her hands into the water and Phillip dipping his bandana into the water. Almost simultaneously she splashed her face with the cooling water and he wrung the bandana over his head.

"As much as I like slaying Creepers and shooting Skeletons," she sighed. "This is a lot better."

"Mhmm."

She looked over to him. "Lunch?" He nodded in agreement.

She paused for a moment and she suddenly noticed his hair. She had never met a single Villager with hair, especially wavy hair. "Are there other Villagers with hair like yours, or are you some rare gem?"

"Steak or Porkchops?" He asked, completely ignoring her question.

_Okay, touchy topic; don't talk about his hair._ "Doesn't really matter to me, much. I like either one."

She stood and dusted herself off and followed Phillip under the cool shade of the front porch.

She noted that the Rooster was sitting on top of the anvil, staring calmly at the two of them. "Don't you ever find that creature annoying?" She asks. Phillip shook his head.

"Why do you keep it? Y'know, like, don't you ever think of maybe _eating_ him?"

He shook his head again.

"Well why not?"

He sighed heavily. "He's my pet."

The Rooster crowed loudly as if confirming his statement, flapping his wings. "He also gets me up in the morning."

_A chicken as a pet. Huh._ "I suppose that makes sense."

He handed her a cooked piece of steak which she took rather quickly. Daisy took a bite and then pointed at the Rooster. "He got a name?"

"Burnie."

_Burnie?_ She looked slowly at the Rooster, and he looked right back at her as if saying, " _I dare you to judge me..._ ". Daisy just shrugged, taking another bite of her steak. "Works for me."


	4. Crafting Stronger Friendships

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daisy brings it upon herself to be the official builder and expand the Shop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said on FF.N, if you don't already follow me on that site, this chapter is just a filler and the next one is being typed up as you read this. Hope y'all enjoy!

Burnie clucked happily, scratching at the soft dirt. He quickly moved as a seed was planted and Burnie then covered the seed with dirt with his beak. He clucked again, looking up at Daisy.

"Listen, I can only pet you so many times, Burnie. You'll get a treat as soon as we're finished this last seed." She said, wiping the sweat from her forehead. He clucked again and moved more off to the side and scratched the ground again.

After Daisy had become tired after working up the ground so much, Burnie had brought it upon himself to help her. He had had plenty of practice scratching up the ground, so he helped her that way. For the majority of the afternoon Burnie had been scratching up the ground for Daisy and then covering the seed after she placed it in the dirt. He was quite proud of himself for helping her.

She placed another seed in the ground and he buried it. She stood and wiped her forehead again, sighing with relief. "Finally done with this garden." She muttered. "Give the seeds a couple of weeks and they'll be fully grown into crops."

Brushing her hands off she walked back to the Shop where a bucket of water was along with a towel. Daisy grabbed the towel and dunked it into the bucket and pulling it back out, she wrung it over her head and a cascade of water fell onto her hair and face, cooling her off. She paused as she felt a tugging at her pant legs and, looking down, saw Burnie pulling on her pants. She rolled her eyes and knelt down. "You looking for something?"

He flapped his wings and crowed. Smiling, Daisy pulled some sunflower seeds from her pocket and gave them to Burnie, who ate the seeds most gratefully. He stared at her for a brief moment before scuttling off to do whatever Roosters did.

"He seems to like you."

Daisy stood and stretched. "Yeah, I seem to have that sort of effect on animals." She turned to Phillip, who was currently sharpening the iron sword he had made. She cocked her head. "Do you do all of your work outside?" She asked.

He stopped and looked at her. "Where else would I work?"

"Well, maybe you should have a shed or something so you could, you know, maybe avoid the heat?"

He paused and then shrugged. "I never really had the time to make a shed."

Daisy mentally slapped herself. **He's a Blacksmith; they don't specialize in that area. They don't have time to build those types of things, anyways!** "Well, maybe I could make one for you!"

Phillip shrugged again and continued with his work. "If you want to."

"Great! I needed supplies to make a fence for the gardens, anyways." She began to head off to the north. "I'll be back."

Once she was out of earshot Phillip sighed and looked at Burnie. "What do you think?"

Burnie crowed.

He chuckled. "Me too."

/ / /

She was back within the next hour, throwing down a whole pile of birch wood, twigs, a bucket of sand and... Dry grass?

"Dry grass?"

Daisy sighed and sat down on the stairs of the shop, huffing and puffing from the effort of carrying all of the supplies. Once she caught her breath she said, "Yeah. I don't like using a crafting table; I just find it odd how such a simple thing is able to turn ingredients and items into actual things you would use. It's not natural. The only thing I use it for are making planks because it would take _days_ to make severa; wood planks."

"Why do you need grass?"

She patted the pile of grass. "I'll need axes to chop the wood; dry grass works as a good hemp rope to keep the stick and stone together."

"Hm."

She sat up and stretched. "Well, I'm going to try and get working on that shed right away before it gets too dark to start." She grabbed her supplies and walked to the east side of the Shop where she dropped them again and she placed down a crafting table as well. Phillip shook his head, not in disapproval but amazement. Never had he met a Traveler that was so gracious and kind. He went and grabbed some off his tools and materials from inside the Shop and fired up the furnaces, not about to let the woman work alone when it was getting dark. Besides, it was about time he started working on an iron axe.

When he had come out of the Shop he saw that Daisy had already placed down Jack-O-Lanterns as a source of light. Smart, considering Jack-O-Lanterns provide more light than the average torch. She already had some wood planks made up. She currently had two stones and were hitting them against each other, chipping off pieces and edges as she did. Phillip watched in earnest, interested in her method of crafting.

Once she had gained a sharp and strong edge, she grabbed a thick stick and strands of dry grass. Weaving the grass together and knotting off the ends, she used the sharp edge of the stone to cut a wedge into the end of the thick stick. She grabbed another stock and placed it inside the wedge and used the woven grass to tie the two pieces together. To ensure the hand made rope wouldn't slip as she worked she wrapped the remaining rope around the end of the stick to secure it. She removed the knot at the one end of the rope, wrapped it around and then tied it into another knot. Satisfied, she grabbed more dry grass and made another rope, but braiding it this time so it was more round than flat. Daisy then grabbed the sharpened stone and placed it onto what Phillip realized was a base for the stone. Holding the two materials together she used the braided rope and proceeded to tie the stone to the sticks, ensuring it was secure by wrapping the rope in an 'X' formation. She wrapped the end of the rope underneath one of the 'X' sections and double knotted the end so it wouldn't slip. Daisy then held the sticks and stone out and spun in a circle and suddenly stopping. The stone didn't fall or swing off, making her nod in satisfaction.

Phillip shook his head again; the woman had made a stone axe without using a crafting table, using dried grass of all things, as rope. He then sharply reminded himself that it was rude to stare and went to his own work, placing some iron ingots inside the furnace. He thought that he and Daisy weren't all too different in the range of tool and material-making; he didn't use a crafting table to make his tools, he always hand crafted his. He heated up the ingots and would use a stone hammer to shape the tools. He had grown so proficient in his tool shaping that he never needed a second heating, he only needed to put the sticks into the bases of the tools and he would use a heated metal stick to melt the base so it would make the stick actually fit. As a final touch up he would use a stone to sharpen the edges.

He pulled the heated ingot from the furnace with a large pair of pliers and placed it onto the anvil, grabbing his hammer and hitting the heated ingot to shape it.

He didn't know exactly how long she would work on the shed but he would stay up for as long as she would be working.

/ / /

He felt a small bit of pressure on his lap, it felt warm...

Burnie suddenly crowed and startled him awake, his axe falling with a loud _clang_ on the stone surface of the Shop. He looked down to see Burnie sitting on his lap and looking up at him with innocent eyes. _Oh, I didn't know you were sleeping_ , he seemed to say.

Phillip rubbed his eyes and looked around. The last thing he remembered was that he was sharpening his axe and then nothing. He had fallen asleep!

With no regard for the rooster on his lap he sat up and stumbled off of the porch of the Shop, looking around for Daisy. If she had been attacked and he was sleeping, her blood would be on his hands!

He suddenly tripped over something and fell face first into the sand. Picking himself up Phillip saw that he had tripped over a wooden chest. "Oh, you're awake."

Daisy seemed to be perfectly fine, placing a fern in a flower pot. "Are you alright?" He couldn't help but ask.

Daisy appeared confused. "Of course, why wouldn't I be? You just fell asleep and I didn't want to wake you up. I can take care of myself, Phillip." She placed the pot up on a shelf and wiped her hands on her jeans. "All done with the decorating. I just need to get your tools and such in here..."

Phillip didn't realize he had stumbled straight into the shed that Daisy had built! He looked around, fascinated by how quickly she had completed the building. The north side of the building was left completely open with a wooden fence and gate, which allowed plenty of natural light to flow in. She had made shelves and had chests placed underneath said shelves, she even went as far as decorating the building with ferns and a flower or two, she even had a cactus on one of the shelves! She had three furnaces aligned along the back wall with signs placed above them labelled as 'Iron', 'Gold', and 'Miscellaneous'. The flooring had been installed, as well; instead of Sandstone, however, she used what looked like Andesite, a cooling stone.

"Wow." Was all he could say.

"Yup." She agreed. "Now, I got a bunch of sandstone all made up so I can make your Shop bigger."

He had to stop her there. "You have already done enough for me, Daisy."

"Yeah, well, I need something to do." She picked up a load of sandstone. "Besides, you need a larger Shop than that; you need a larger main floor and a second floor to sleep in and I need to stay out of trouble." Before he could retort she was already carrying the sandstone to the west side of the shop.

Phillip looked around the shed she had made and shook his head, once again, in disbelief. His father had taught him many things, but having a woman, a Traveler, doing so many things for him was one of the things that they didn't touch up on. Then again, his father didn't say anything much about Travelers being so hospitable or kind. Most Travelers were just expected to come and go.

He didn't know if he should just let things be, or if he should try and send Daisy off.


	5. Wounded

**Maybe this wasn't such a good idea...** Daisy thought, sneaking through the Swamp with her bow ready. She had been wandering around for what felt like hours and the dead silence of the Swamps was making her edgy. She had half expected to meet up with any type of mob by now, heck, she was even hoping for it. She needed a little bit of action every now and then.

Being cooped up at that Shop for a week was more than enough for her to go crazy. She had been building the second floor of the Shop when she decided that enough was enough. She donned a leather vest and her bow with some arrows and set out to go exploring. She was excited to find the Swamp biome as she wanted to find some Blue Orchids to help with the decoration of the Shop. She had already found about half a dozen, but she wanted to explore the Swamps more in case she found anything else that could be interesting.

And find something she did.

She froze in place as a building came into view. Not a nice regular home, no, but it looked like a small Hut, lifted above the ground as to avoid the swampy water.

Curious, Daisy approached the hut, barely making a sound even though she was treading through muck and water. Why would someone build a hut all the way in the middle of nowhere?

She briefly thought about Phillip and his Shop. He was hypothetically in the middle of nowhere as well, she supposed.

She moved around the hut and saw that there was a small set of stairs up to it. "Hello?" She called out, taking one step onto the stairs. "Is anyone here?" When there was no answer she proceeded up the stairway.

It was a nice, humble little hut. However, the items inside were somewhat odd for a regular home; a cauldron, a pot with a mushroom and a crafting table. Daisy looked inside the cauldron and saw a mysterious, deep red substance brewing inside of it. **Someone must've been in here, recently.** She thought.

"Hm."

At first she thought it was Phillip, as that was one of his 'trademark' lines, but it wasn't near as deep as Phillip's voice was. Daisy drew an arrow and turned rapidly.

A woman, tall but skinny, stood before her. She wore a tall, pointed hat with a golden buckle on it, her robe was purple in color and with a grey undercoat. Daisy recognized the woman almost instantly.

It was a Witch.

Daisy didn't know what to do. She had never encountered a Witch before. She didn't know if she should run, back up, look away or look her straight in the eye.

The Witch raised a Splash Potion, ready to throw it.

Okay, running was good enough.

Daisy turned and jumped from the Witch Hut, just barely missing being hit by the Potion. She fell into the swampy water with a splash and she quickly picked herself up and ran. She didn't know where, but she just ran. **Note to self, Witches throw stuff.**

She suddenly felt her foot slip, she wasn't sure what, but it just slipped. Her slip turned into a fall, a really long fall. Her fall was briefly halted as she crashed into a small cliff with a sickening crack. Daisy gasped for air at the impact, holding her side and rolling onto her back. **What happened?**

She looked around, dazed by the fall. It almost looked like she had fallen into a cavern of some type. But caverns didn't have walls that went straight up, did they?

Daisy forced herself into a seated position, looking around once again. No, it definitely wasn't a cavern; it was a ravine. A big one. As much as the find should've been delightful, considering how much resources a ravine had, she couldn't help but be filled with dread. She hadn't brought any tools or supplies for mining; she only brought her bow and arrows, a few pieces of steak and pork, sticks and wood for a fire and her map. She didn't have anything to build up on or to use to mine her way back up.

She was completely trapped.

/ / /

Burnie crowed, pecking at his owner's feet. Phillip looked down at the Rooster. "Hm?"

He just watched as Burnie ran around in circles whilst keeping his beady eyes on him. "Burnie, I can't tell what you want."

Burnie stopped running around in circles, clearly understanding that his owner was clueless as to what he was trying to tell him. Burnie hopped down from the porch and pecked at a flower in the ground. Phillip, despite thinking that his Rooster was simply acting crazy, put down the iron shovel and walked over to Burnie. Phillip looked at the flower. "A daisy."

Burnie crowed, flapping his wings.

Phillip stared at the white daisy for a moment, contemplating what his Rooster was trying to tell him. He felt the soft petals, briefly remembering when Daisy had first planted it along with several other flowers a couple of days ago. He hesitated. _Daisy..._

"Daisy!"

If he could, Burnie would've slapped Phillip on the back of his head.

Daisy wasn't back from looking for more flowers. She had left early in the morning after the Mobs had all burned up and, after she particularly mentioned wanting some Blue Orchids, he thought that she should've been back from the Swamps by now as it was nearly sunset. It wasn't like her to try and be this dangerously close to the Mob Spawning Hour.

He remembered the first time that he thought he should've gone to look for her and how that turned out, but it was only a hunch that time. This time, he had a gut feeling that something was definitely wrong.

Phillip looked down at Burnie, who clucked, almost as if he knew what he was thinking. Standing up, Phillip dashed into the Shop and grabbed his iron sword and some food, just in case she was out and he packed some torches in case they were stuck outside for the evening. He then placed Burnie inside the Shop and he set out towards the swamps, almost praying that nothing bad had happened to Daisy.

Philip knew the Northern parts fairly well; he had explored enough of the area to know the basic area without needing a map. However, beyond the Swamps he had no clue where to go if he got lost. Which definitely wasn't something that was needed, considering the circumstances.

He slashed at a Zombie, killing it instantly. Great, on top of trying to find Daisy, it was getting dark and Mobs were already beginning to crawl out from their hiding spots. Things couldn't possibly get any worse, right?

"Hmm..."

Never mind, he thought.

He recognized the voice of the Witch almost instantly. However, rather than running like most people would he stopped and sheathed his sword and she put the potion back in her robe. "Phillip."

"Vivian."

"What brings you back to the Swamps, especially at this hour?"

"Did you happen to see a Traveler coming around here? Sandy hair, silver eyes?"

The Witch stroked the black cat that was curled around her neck, pondering the Blacksmith's words. "Ah, the one trespassing on my land? Yes, she left in quite a hurry."

"Where?"

"Towards the Ravine."

That did _not_ sound good at all. If she went towards the Ravine, running, then there was a large chance that she may have fallen down it. Nodding his thanks he took off to the Ravine, once again praying that nothing bad had happened to her. With any luck, he thought, she didn't fall all the way down. Unless there was something to break her fall or she had some really good pain tolerance, there was almost no chance of her surviving the fall.

He stopped at the edge of the Ravine, carefully scanning over the edge. He couldn't see much of anything because it was dark, so he lit a torch in the hopes that it could help him see at least a little bit. "Daisy?" He called out.

"Hello?"

He breathed a sigh of relief knowing that she was alive and hopefully well. "Where are you?"

"Down here! Just below you!"

He stuck the torch out a small bit further and saw a small figure just on the lower ledge of the Ravine. "Are you alright?"

"Hungry, sore ribs, so I'm just hunky-dory. Pass me down some grass and a rock."

He was confused at her request.

"So I can make a rope and you can get me out of here. Hurry!"

He quickly dashed and grabbed as much grass as he could and grabbed a rock out of a small pond. He ran back to the edge. "How do I get it down to you?"

"Grab the longest strand of grass and tie it around the rest of the grass. Stick the rock in the middle and drop it down."

"I'll hit you!"

"I have better eyesight than you think, now just do it!"

He did as she said, tying the grass together then placing the rock in the center. With a deep breath he dropped the 'package' and it hit the ledge. "Thanks!"

He then threw down a torch so then she could see. He heard it land on the ledge with a 'thunk'.

"Ow!"

Okay, maybe not the ledge but at least she got it.

She struck the torch against the stones and it lit up, allowing her to see as she worked quickly at the grass. Phillip looked around, seeing the distinct shape of a Creeper. He froze in place and the Creeper looked at him. It stared at him for a few more moments then went on its way, making Phillip breath out in relief. He looked down and harshly whispered, "Are you quite done?"

She looked up at him with eyes that scared him more than when his mother had caught him with his hands in the Cookie Jar. "Give me a bloody moment, Phillip!"

He looked around again, his nervousness slowly creeping up on him. He never liked being out late in the evening, a trait that he still pertained from his father. Despite that, he resisted the urge to go and find cover. He looked back down to see that Daisy was tying the last few strands to the small rock he had tossed down to her. "Okay, I'll throw the rock up and you got to catch it, then you can pull me up!"

Phillip placed his hands in ready to catch it and she threw it up. However, she didn't throw quite hard enough and the rock came down and hit her square on the head, making her hiss out in pain. She shook her head and threw it up again. Phillip, however, wasn't prepared for the speed in which the rock had come up and it ended up hitting his nose. He grunted in pain and held his nose, praying that it wasn't bleeding.

"Sorry!"

"Just throw it!"

She heaved a breath and threw the rock up again. Phillip managed to catch it and he tied it around his arm. "Ready!"

"Ready!"

He dug his heels into the ground and pulled with all of his strength, grunting from the effort. _Please don't let the rope break!_

Once he saw Daisy's hand reach up and lurched forward and grabbed it, trying his best to pull her over the ledge and onto safe ground.

He heard a familiar hiss and he looked over to see the familiar green colour scheme of a Creeper. It began to blink and expand and Phillip knew he had to do something. There was only two options; jump down or drop Daisy. He knew that both were completely stupid but what other choices did he have in this situation.

Phillip quickly jumped from the ledge and grabbed onto Daisy just as the Creeper exploded which propelled them down. He hugged her close and brought the both into a spooning position and he turned so his back was facing the ground.

They both landed on the floor of the Ravine. Despite the pain that Phillip was in he still covered Daisy as rubble and debris from the explosion fell around them.

Daisy was breathing heavily as was Phillip and she pushed away from him. "You daft idiot! Why did you do that? You should've just dropped me and ran!"

He couldn't speak, nor did he want to. The pain in his ribs prevented him from doing so, anyways. Daisy felt around and grasped a stick, which she hoped was a torch. She struck the fatter end on the stone floor and it lit up. She set it in a crack in the ground and turned her attention to Phillip, who was favouring his side most particularly.

"Daft idiot..." She muttered. She shoved him so he was laying on his back and did her best to take his apron off. She then lifted up his brown shirt and gasped as she saw the familiar crimson colour of blood.

"Not as bad as it looks..." Phillip muttered.

"Like hell it isn't!" She spat.

She truly didn't know what to do; they had no medical supplies, well, they really didn't have _any_ supplies for that matter. It was dark, they were in a Ravine and there seemed to be no hope of them getting out of the Ravine. Not with Phillip wounded.

So, she supposed she would have to make do with the materials at hand.

She forced him to sit up and she used his apron as a makeshift bandage, using the strings to tie it tightly around his torso. She slid his shirt back down and she helped him onto his feet. "We have to move. We're sitting chickens if we stay here."

He didn't protest and only leaned on Daisy for support, wincing at the sharp pain from the wound on his ribs. Reluctantly, they both moved forward into the Ravine. With any luck, they could find something to keep them safe for the rest of the evening.


End file.
